The Best Laid Plans
by AlongTheSunriseAvenue
Summary: Freddie has a the perfect plan for his photo project with Carly to become the thing that makes her fall in love with him. So how did he end up working with Sam? Seddie, of course! And one-sided Cibby. Freddie's POV.
1. Plan B

I couldn't believe my luck.  
This was absolutely perfect.  
Our English teacher had given us an assignment. You and a partner were to spend nine weeks working together, taking pictures and writting paragraphs to describe them. It was a perfect oppritunity to finally get to use my tech skills for something my grade depended so heavily on, of course, but that wasn't way it was perfect.  
This was co-ed. Boys would get to choose a partner for the project, and the partner had to be a girl.  
I couldn't wait to choose Carly and spend nine weeks with her alone, without my crazy, blonde-headed phycopath of a friend there to bother me.  
Yeah, this was deffiantly perfect.  
Our teacher paced up to the front of the room. On the white-board were the names of every boy in my class, with an empty space next to them. I could practically see 'Carly Shay' written right beside 'Fredward Benson' as I sat down, smiling smugly.  
"Why so grinny, Fredlumps?"  
I rolled my eyes at the sound of Sam Puckett's voice, giving me a new nickname. She's had a new one every single day for the past month.  
"So, Puckett, who're you hoping picks you?"  
Sam shrugs. "Don't care. But they better be a hard worker, cause I'm not doing squat." She took a bite out of a strip of turkey bacon.  
"You're eating TURKEY BACON? We were just at lunch!"  
Sam just took another bite. "There'ff no wong twime to weat turffey bacuhmn."  
I looked at her, confused. "What?"  
She swallowed. "I said 'There's no wrong time to eat turkey bacon', Techwad."  
I rolled my eyes and ignored her.  
"Attention, please!" My English teacher called out. "Girls, please stand! Once a boy picks you, take a seat! Who would like to choose first...Brian?"  
"Wendy."  
Wendy smiled at her boyfriend sitting three rows back.  
"Next...Gibby?"  
"I choose Carly."  
I could litterally hear the world rushing around me. The room went silent with shock.  
"WHAT?" I shouted into the otherwise silent room as Carly's name appeared, not in it's destined spot next to mine, but next to Gibby's name.  
"Freddie, since you seem so keen on choosing a partner-"  
Sam covered her mouth with her hands, but wasn't able to fully suffocate her laughter. I kicked her foot.  
"...then why don't you choose next?"  
I glared at Sam. She was still laughing at me, I could tell by the way her blue eyes sparkled. I had to do something that would annoy her the **most.**  
And then I knew how to get back at her.  
'I pick Sam."  
"WHAT?" she shouted at me.  
She wasn't alone. The entire class stared at me, stunned beyond words. I heard Jeremy drop his pencil in shock.  
My eyes widened, my pupils shrunk, as I realized what I had just done to myself.  
As my teacher wrote Sam's name beside mine, I let my head drop down and smack onto the table.  
I couldn't believe my luck.


	2. Up And Back Down

On my way out the door to my mom's car, I walked as far away from Sam as I possibly could.  
I was still mad at myself when Carly walked up next to me.  
I looked around frantically, making sure Sam wasn't with her.  
"Why so panicky?" she asked me, smiling her pretty smile.  
"Where's Sam?"  
"Detention."  
I sighed, relaxing.  
"So you're just avoiding her now?"  
"Well, she's the last person on earth who I'd want to do a project with."  
"I know, Freddie, but-"  
"Wait." I said, tacken back. "You AGREE?"  
Carly nodded, leaning towards me to whisper, "She never does ANYthing."  
I shrugged. "Well, than this should be easier for me."  
By the time Carly and I sat down in my mom's car, I felt a little better. At least now I wouldn't have to work with Sam.  
"Hello Freddie, Carly." Mom said airily. "How was your day? Did you trip, at any point?"  
"_Mom_..." I complained, embarrassed. "Not now..."  
"So how did it go with the photo project?" She asked me cheerfully, "When are you and Carly getting started? Because I hav some WONDERFUL various items for one's heath should you choose to make health the theme of your photo proje-"  
"Mom," I interrupted, "I'm not working with Carly...Gibby is."  
She shuddered. "You mean that dreadful shirtless boy you spend some time with? Freddie, you realize how impolite it is to publicly remove any clothing, correct?"  
I groaned inwardly. I was NOT in the mood for another 'talk', especially not in front of Carly.  
"So, who are you working with, Freddie?"  
"...Sam..."  
Mrs. Benson seemed satisfied. "Ah, you spend time with her as well, correct? Is she nice?"  
I thought about that one. She was kinda nice...sometimes...I mean, she was hilarious and brave, and kind of pretty when she's not attacking me.  
"Yeah."  
Mrs. Benson smiled. "Great! As soon as we get home you can call her and ask her over to start taking pictures!"  
"But, mom, I don't want to work with her!"  
"Well, you can't make her do it all alone. You'll work with her, Freddie, I'll see to that. Now, what do you want your theme to be? I have the most wonderfull lilacs in my bedroom windowsill for a plant themed project..."  
I smacked my forehead, which had already been abused from all the smacking Sam and I had inflicted on it, on the window. 'I'll see to that' was my mom's way of saying 'That is absolutely final, no exceptions.'  
I guess I'd be working with Sam after all, and the only person I had to blame it on was Gibby.  
Gibby, and myself.


	3. Digging a Deeper Hole

Ch. 3

I decided to wait to call Sam until I had a good idea, so I was sitting on my bed with a notepad and a pencil, brainstorming.

_Themes That Sam Will Think are Cool:_

1.) Food

I scribbled that out. No matter how much she begged, we were NOT doing food as a theme.

_1.)_

I thought about it even more. 'Me in pain' was the only other thing I could think of, and I wasn't going to even bother writting that down.  
That blank stayed blank for the next several minutes before I finally caved and called Sam.  
"Sup, Fredbasket?" I heard her say, sounding bored.  
"Can you get your mom to drive you over here?"  
"Naah, she's busy at the doctor getting this lump of fat rubbed out of her back-"  
"OOOKAY!" I cut her off, dusgusted. I shuddered just thinking about it.  
'Why do you need me, anyway? Something for iCarly?"  
"No, we need to come up with an idea for a photo project."  
I was answered by a dial tone. Sam had hung up on me.  
I called her again.  
"No, Freddie."  
'C'mon, think of it as something you'd do for iCarly! If you do the project with me, I'll give you-"  
Dang it. _Why_ did I have to say that? I had nothing to give her.  
I thought about it. All I could think of was this funny video contest I heard about over the radio this morning, 'Send in your funny video, and if it wins our contest we'll mail you a years' worth of BFWang's special BBQ sauce!"  
"I'll give you a years' supply of Barbeque sauce from BFWangs."  
I could tell Sam was smiling into the phone. "You got yourself a deal. You got a theme yet?"  
"That's what I wanted to ask you, you have any ideas?"  
"Food."  
"NO, Sam."  
"You in pain."  
I rolled my eyes, sighing. At least I had kind of expected this.  
"Try again."  
"Hmmmm...destruction?"  
"What do you mean?" I asked, not really understanding her.  
"Kinda like iCrush It." Sam explained. "Things getting obliterated. A picture of the bits flying everywhere."  
I had to hand it to Sam. It was a pretty cool idea.  
"Alright, Destruction it is then. Come home with me tomorrow after school and we'll get started!" I told her.  
"Not so fast." Sam replied. "How soon do I get the BBQ sauce?"  
I tried to remember the add.  
"It'll be read two months from now, just in time for the end of the project." I said, trying to refrain myself from mentioning the contest.  
"Great!" she said, and she sounded genuinely happy with that. "But the project's NINE weeks, not eight."  
"Well, it'll take me about a week to finalize and print all our pictures and paragraphs. See, I'll have to work on the white balance and crop out things and-"  
Another dial tone.  
I just smiled and snapped my phone shut.  
Now I just had to make sure I won Sam that BBQ sauce.


	4. Brainstorm

Ch. 4

I felt strange leading Sam into my bedroom. It was awkward, embarrassing, even if all we were gonna do was make a list of items for us to crush, and set up some times of the day to work.

I had always imagined that, the first time I brought a girl in my room, it would be Carly.

Sam flopped down on my bed lazily and sprawled over it like she owned the place.

"Smells like dork in here, Fredbags."

I ignored her.

I sat down on the floor and leaned against my bed with the pad of paper in my head.

"You have any ideas for stuff we can destroy?" I asked her, bracing myself to be insulted.

Instead, I felt her foot land on my shoulder. It hurt, but I didn't complain about it. I wasn't sure why, but it wasn't bothering me even a little.

"You mean besides the obvious?"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I knew exactly what she wanted to destroy.

I could feel my arm losing circulation. Her foot was starting to bug me now.

"Uh, Sam?...Ow…."

"Yeah, Fredhead?"

"I think you're bruising me….."

"Yeah, no charge!" she said happily.

Sometimes I couldn't believe that demon was my friend.

"How about a cup of green paint?" she suggested.

I tilted my head all the way back to try and look at her, but all I could see was her torso. It was pretty awkward, and I felt myself get faintly pink-what was wrong with me?

I flipped my head back down.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"We take green paint, put it in a glass cup, turn the cup upside down onto a table, and then BAM!" She smashed her foot down hard on my shoulder as she shouted the last word, and I felt the pain increase considerably.

"….Paint and glass fly everywhere." Sam finished dramatically.

She jogged her heel u and down on my shoulder repeatedly. "Whatcha think?

"Stop it, Sam!" I told her, having taken enough shoulder pain to last me a while. I grabbed her foot and tried to push it back onto my bed, but it just swung back around and smacked my jaw.

"Oww…." I groaned. "NEVER do that again!"

She turned the top half of her foot to the left and hit me on the cheek again.

I needed to stop setting myself up for this.

"So paint in a glass…." I said, writing that down.

Suddenly, I heard the door click open.

"Freddie! Could you set the table for two, please?" my mom asked, popping her head inside the door.

I nod.

"Samantha, dear, what would you like to drink?" she asked Sam.

"Huh?" I said, looking at her, confused. "You said 'two' but SAM is eating here?"

Mom nodded. "Yes. I need to leave and work with a patient. Dinner's all set."

She walked out of the room, and before she left, I heard her shout, "Remember the rule about not using forks without adult supervision!" I heard our front door shut.

Sam gave me an 'are-you-serious?' look. "The 'no forks without adult supervision' rule?"

I glared at her. "It's precautionary!"

Sam just laughed.

"Well, we can eat with spoons." I told her. "Correction. I can eat with spoons. You go eat at Carly's."

"Wish I could, Fredbunches." She said, sounding irritated. "She 'n Spencer are in Yakima for the weekend."

I glared at my only companion for the evening, but I wasn't really mad about it.

Sam didn't look all that upset either.

"Go sit at the table. I'll go get some spoons."

Once I was in the kitchen, I sighed ruefully.

I'd be spending an evening alone with Sam Puckett.


	5. Crashing, In Theory

Ch. 5

Sam was twirling her spoon around when I came in with the spaghetti.

"What, no taco shell?" Sam asked me.

"….No…." I said thoughtfully. "But good point, I haven't had plain spaghetti since…."

"Since we met Carly." Sam concluded.

I pushed Sam the bowl of spaghetti. She stuck her spoon into it and began to eat straight out of the bowl.

I put my head on the table. I really shouldn't have expected anything better.

Without warning, Sam stood up and went out the door.

"What the-Sam?" I shouted after her.

She came back two minutes later with two taco shells in her hand.

"You got taco shells?" I asked her. "Where?"

"Carly's."

I didn't even ask her how.

As I took a bite into my spaghetti taco, I felt something warm and stringy stick to my cheek.

I looked up at Sam, who had her spoon back in a catapulting position.

I stuck my spoon into the bowl and came out with a meatball on it. Sam was giving me a death glare that very clearly said, "Don't even think about it…"

But it was too late for that, because I flung the meatball at her, causing it to stick to her shoulder.

Her voice was aggressive, but she was smiling. "So that's how it's gonna be…."

She shot ice from her lemonade at me, hitting me in the eye. I responded with meat sauce to the forehead. Sam retaliated with a spoonful of grapes. I filled my spoon with another meatball and shot it.

But this time, Sam ducked.

The meatball flew right over her head and hit my mom's favorite, most hideous glass vase. It wobbled in place, Sam smiling eagerly, and then fell off the coffee table and on to the floor.

Sam and I looked at eachother, her face red from the effort to not laugh at me, and my eyes full of fear. My mom was gonna kill me for that.

There was an odd spluttering noise, and then Sam burst out laughing. Her entire body shook and she tried to cover her mouth with her hand, which only made her laugh harder.

A few solid minutes passed, with me only growing more and more scared, and Sam's laugher gradually subsiding. As she finished off her spaghetti taco, I gave the ugly vase a look.

It was broken beyond repair. I wasn't sure what it was my mom loved about that vase, but she loved it like Sam loves Fat Cakes.

I checked my watch. "Sam? It's getting kinda late, you should probably call your mom…."

Sam shrugged. "I can go crash at Carly's I'm sure mom's out."

I wasn't sure why, but I didn't like the idea of her all by herself. So I said, without really thinking beforehand, "You can just crash on our couch, OK?"

I saw Sam relax a little after that. She looked pretty tired.

Sam sat on our couch, looking kind of thoughtful. I could tell she didn't want to sleep here, but I took her move to sit on our cough as a 'yes.' I knew Sam. She hated sleeping alone. I had no idea what it was, but she couldn't stand it. So I went into my room and grabbed an extra pillow off my bed and an old sheet with baseball stuff on it I used to use. I sat the pillow down on the couch and watched Sam lay on it.

She giggled. "Nice blankie."

I rolled my eyes. Sam never changes, even when I step out of my zone like this.

"It smells like Baby Dork…."

I flicked the family room lights off and went back into the kitchen to clean up, ignoring her.

Once I had finished, I came back to our family room to check on Sam.

She had gone to sleep. I didn't know what it was, but I thought she looked kind of pretty when she was asleep. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't insulting me or trying to hurt me.

I was just about to leave Sam when I noticed that the meat sauce was still smeared across her forehead.

I hesitated for a moment, then I gently brushed it off.

I spent a few long seconds making sure I hadn't woke her up, then crawled into bed.

The pillow smelled like Sam.


	6. The Good Side

Ch. 6

"Fredward Benson!"

I sat bolt upright in bed at the sound of my mom screaming my name. Then I remembered the broken vase.

And then I remembered Sam.

I checked my clock. 3:30 am. My mom must have woken up both of us.

My door was flung open wide by my furious mother.

She was holding a piece of the vase in one hand and had her other hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Which would you prefer to explain first?" she asked me angrily.

"Uh…Sam's mom couldn't make it home so I…I said she could stay here." I spluttered hopelessly.

Mom calmed down slightly. "Well…I suppose that was thoughtful of you, Freddie…But this vase!"

I winced.

"You know that this is my favorite vase! And you could've stepped on the glass and gotten a glass splinter!"

I glanced over at Sam. She was looking at the floor, seeming just as embarrassed as me.

"I…uh…" I searched my head for an excuse, a way to escape the fact that I had broken my mom's favorite vase with a meatball.

"Freddie tripped over the table leg and knocked it on the ground, Mrs. Benson." Sam lied smoothly.

I had to admit I was pretty impressed.

"Oh, Freddie!" My mom cried, running over to me. "Were you bruised? Scrapped? Do you need some of that boo-boo spray that you like?"

I heard Sam suffocate her laughter into her hands.

"Mom…" I complained, embarrassed. "Not now…"

She sighed. "Alright…if you're sure you're ok…"

I nodded.

"I suppose I'll just go to bed, then…"  
She left the room. Sam immediately followed, looking glad to be out of here.

Then I looked down and realized I wasn't wearing a shirt.

Even more embarrassed, I pulled one on and went back to sleep.

When I woke up again, I came into the family room and saw that both my pillow and old blanket were gone.

So was Sam.

I walked around the apartment, confused. Then I saw the blanket, folded up, sitting in the laundry room, and the pillow beneath it.

I smiled. Wow. Sam had actually folded up the blanket I had given her…? She must have really appreciated it, but I knew she'd never say that to my face.

I walked back to the kitchen and noticed that my favorite cereal was missing. In its place was a note, written messily with a red crayon.

"_Fredichini,_

_Thanks for the food, couch, and cereal. Get ready to crush some stuff with me._

_Sam."_

And again I was amazed with Sam.


	7. Destruction, Indeed

Ch. 7

Two days later, Sam and I were in my room with a glass of paint and Spencer's borrowed sledgehammer.

After my mom wrapped my arms, legs, and torso with bubble wrap and made me wear my old football pads over that, I could barely walk, much less swing the sledgehammer. But I was just happy that my mom was letting me do this at all. She was back at work, and would be home in about an hour, giving us plenty of time to smash in peace.

Sam and I also had an ancient radio and a stack of ice cream cones to smash after the paint cup.

I handed Sam the sledgehammer apprehensively. She pounded the mallet against her hand a few times, and I took a nervous step back.

Clicking the camera on, I watched as she snapped her safety goggled on and wound back. I pressed Record so that we could capture the full smash, and then gave her the nod.

She swung down with that strength that had always amazed and terrified me. There was an eruption of glass and paint, and the camera lenses was green from the green paint in a matter of seconds.

We switched materials. After getting the head-nod from Sam, I swung down at the old radio.

"Wait!" Sam shouted. I immediately let go of the sledgehammer, but it was too late.

It fell and hit the small table that the radio was on, bounced back into the air, executed a perfect flip, and smacked Sam dead center on her shin.

She fell over instantly, disappearing from sight, and for the briefest moment I thought she might be hurt.

But then I realized it had only knocked her over. The second I walked over to see if she was OK, she'd jump right back up and smack me over the head with the sledgehammer.

But a full minute passed and Sam didn't get up. I could hear her breathing turn to panting, the panting turned to gasping. And then I got worried again.

"S-Sam?"

There was no response.

I walked over to her and shuddered at the sight of her.

Her left shin was swollen, bruises already appearing and spreading fast. Her shin itself was bent sickeningly halfway down. I was horrified, barely able to look at her.

Sam looked up at me. Her face was etched with agony, her eyes filled with anger that was rapidly being replaced by pain.

"Sam!" I said again. "Sam, are you OK?"  
"What do you THINK, dorkface?" she shouted back. Her voice alarmed me. I could tell she was trying to act like she was alright, but even her voice was choked with her pain.

"Let me help you…" I said, trying to sound calm. My mom had always said that the person assisting the patient had to stay 100% calm. I picked her up carefully. Sam made a pained little sound, but I could tell she was comforted by the gesture.

I walked Sam over to the kitchen and opened the freezer door with difficulty. Taking out an icepack with a picture of a polar bear on it, I then went to the pantry and grabbed a Fat Cake.

Carrying Sam over to our couch, I sat her down by the arm of the couch with her leaning against one of the pillows. I sat beside her so that just her legs overlapped mine. She had them both bent, which made the shin bone even more obviously broken. I unwrapped the Fat Cake and gave it to Sam, who gave a small smile.

"This might hurt a little…" I warned her. Then I moved my hand under her broken leg and pushed the lower half of the bone back in line with the half connected to her knee. My other hand pressed the icepack to the top half of her lower leg gently. Sam cringed in pain as I then lowered her leg so that it was straight out, overlapping mine. My legs did the lining up work, but I still had to hold the icepack in place for her.

I looked back to Sam. Her fists were clenched up in pain.

Without a thought beforehand, I moved my free hand over to hers, remembering something else my mom had said.

"Help the patient stay as calm and relaxed as possible."

So I closed my hand over Sam's and opened her hand up, relaxing it. Her grip tightened again so that she was crushing my hand, but she was calming down a little.

"Sam, I'm so sorry…" I said to her, and I truly meant it.

"Yeah?" Sam said. I smiled at her.

"Wow." I said, trying to cheer her up. "Even with a broken leg you can still be sarcastic.

"That's how Momma rolls." Sam said, her voice sounding a little bit weaker.

I reached for the phone and called my mom.


	8. Mysterious

Ch. 8

Mom and I were sitting in the waiting room together.

"Freddie," she told me, "I'm going to let you continue with this….Destruction theme…"

I was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"  
She nodded. "Samantha did not follow the safety procedures like you did, and was therefore hurt. As long as she wears the safety equipment, you and she may carry on."

I smiled. I was starting to like working with Sam.

Two of the doctors walked out to speak with us.

"Ah, Marissa!" one of them said, shaking my mother's hand. I assumed the two must work together.

The other doctor turned his attention to me. "Mr. Benson, your friend wished me to inform you that she'll be alright, and will not require a wheelchair."

I sighed with relief. "What all's wrong with Sam?"

"Miss Puckett suffers a fractured left shin bone that will require extensive physical therapy and three months in a cast. The procedure in which the cast will be placed upon her will take place in about fifteen minutes."

He walked over to my mom. "Marissa, we cannot perform any operation beyond the placement of the cast without proper consent from Miss Puckett's legal guardian-"

"Um, excuse me?" I interrupted.

"Yes, young man?" the doctor replied.

"Can I go visit Sam before the operation starts?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt…Room 204."

I walked down the hallway, feeling extremely guilty. For the next three months, whenever I looked at Sam I'd remember the fact that I broke her leg. If this was how Carly felt after I saved her life, I felt really sorry for her.

I knocked on the door to Room 204, and was let in by a doctor.

She looked at me kind of strange. "Are you Freddie Benson?" she asked me.

"Yeah…." I said, confused. "Why?"  
The doctor leaned close to me and whispered, "This young lady told me all about you." And then she gave me a sort of smile, which confused me even more. "She had a lot to say about you."

That helped me a little. At least now I had a good idea what Sam must've said. Probably stuff about some big jerk that was obsessed with tech who had broken her leg with a sledgehammer.

…Oh.

"I'll be over there." The doctor whispered, pointing to the corner. "I just need to finish preparing the medicine for Miss Puckett."

I looked at her, and then I looked at Sam.

"It's alright." The doctor reassured me. "I won't bother you. You won't even know I'm there."

I nodded and then sat down in the hard red chair beside Sam, feeling extremely guilty.

"Hey, Fredward." She said sleepily.

I smiled at her. "Hey, Sam."

She sighed, and so did I.

"I'm sorry." I finally said.

"Yeah, no chizz." Sam said softly, sounding highly sarcastic.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked her nervously.

"Pfft, naah, it wasn't your fault." Sam said seriously, which really surprised me.

She reconsidered. "Well, it wasn't entirely your fault….."

I looked down at her sympathetically. "Are you doing OK?"

"Yeah, 'm just tired." Sam yawned a little. "The medicine in the IV puts you to sleep."

"Yeah, cause you seriously need medicine to get you to sleep…."

Sam broke into giggles at this, and I laughed with her after a moment.

"Why did you tell me to stop swinging the sledgehammer anyway?" I asked her after a moment.

Sam thought for a moment. "I thought that….I couldn't tell if the camera was on or not, OK?"

I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling again.

And again I said something that surprised me.

"Sam? Do you….want to listen to my PearPod before you…you know….go out?"

Sam thought about it. "Sure, fine." She said grudgingly. "Actually, that'd be kinda nice."

I dug into my pocket and pulled out my PearPod. Tossing it to her, I said, "Pick whatever song you want."

Sam stuck the buds in her ears and scrolled through my menu for a moment before deciding on a song.

As it played, she occasionally glanced up at me, which made me curious as to what exactly she was listening to.

But after a couple of minutes, she fell asleep under the influence of the medicine.

I gently moved my hand up and took out the buds. When I was removing the second one, some of Sam's hair got tangled around my fingers.

I wasn't sure why I did it, but I spent a little more time than was necessary to remove it.

As I left her, I could have sworn I saw the doctor smile.


	9. Care

Ch. 9

I knocked on the door to Carly's apartment, feeling uncertain.

Half of me really wanted for Sam to be there. But the other half hoped that she wasn't.

I heard Carly's voice shout, "It's open!"

I stepped into the apartment and looked around.

"Hey, Freddie!" Carly said, walking over to my side happily.

I looked at her. And as I did, I realized something wasn't right. For some reason, Carly didn't look the same way to me as she used to.

"So how was your weekend with Sam?" she asked me.

I blinked, and started feeling nervous. "Well…uh…it was…fine…"

" 'Fine?' " Carly said, her eyebrows raised. "What all did you guys do?"

"Not… much." I spluttered. "Why?"

"Cause Sam said 'It was alright, kind of fun at times' when I asked her, so I wanted to know what you guys were up to."

"R-really? What else did she say?"

"Not much else. But she thinks your mom's rule about forks is stupid." Carly told me.

I was confused. Sam had actually had fun when I threw food at her?

"So she…really thinks that forks don't have any potential to hurt you? That's so crazy…" I stuttered nervously, in an attempt to avoid answering Carly's question.

Carly put her hands on her hips the way she does when she means business. "What happened this weekend?" she demanded.

I rubbed the back of my neck as I felt my face grow warm. "Well…my mom sort of made Sam eat over at our…house and we…got into this food fight and I got meat sauce on her forehead and broke my mom's favorite vase with…with a meatball and then Sam found out her mom…wasn't…around and she had no place to…to sleep, so I…I let her…sleep at…our house on the couch…"

Carly looked surprised, but she also looked really happy, which confused me.

She messed up my hair. "Awww! I told you that you care about Sam!"

"Yeah, whatev-"

"Don't 'yeah, whatever' me, Freddie, I know you like her!"

That was what did it for me. I felt my face grow as hot as it did when I first saw Carly, all those years ago. My eyes grew, my mouth opened, my heart and breathing accelerated.

"W-what do you mean?"  
Carly was still smiling. "You don't hate Sam and she doesn't hate you! You guys are friends now!"

My breathing relaxed slowly. "Oh….right, yeah, we're friends…"

Carly looked confused. "What did you think I meant?"

I sat down on her couch. "…Nothing."

Carly sat down next to me.

"So how's Sam now?" I asked her.

Carly sighed. "She's been alright, although her shin broke two days ago, and she says it was because of something you did, but she didn't say what…"

I sighed. "Well…while we were smashing stuff for our photo project, I accidentally hit Sam."

Carly nodded slowly.

"Hey, Freddie?"

"Yes?"  
"After Sam told me about you breaking her shin-"

"She _told_ you?"

"Mhm. After she told me that, she said you 'helped her.' And when she said it, she looked kind of…kind of embarrassed. What'd you do?"

I looked down at my feet, thinking about it. I suppose Sam had been embarrassed because of the fact that she needed help in the first place. It was how she was, just like when she got a job at Chili My Bowl.

"Just gave her some ice and a Fat Cake."

"Then why'd she seem-"

"Because she needed help." I told Carly. "She's too proud to ever ask for it."

There was a long silence.

"Carly?"  
"Yeah?"

"When Sam and I were at the hospital, I let her listen to my PearPod."

"Yeah, she told me."

"Do you know what song she picked?"

Carly looked thoughtful.

"…No."

I wasn't sure why, but I'm almost positive she wasn't telling the truth.

"Carly, remember how you said that from now on, we'd tell eachother everything?" I reminded her.

Carly didn't say anything.

"But why won't you tell me? Is it _that_ bad?" I pressed.

Carly shrugged. "No, I just…don't think she'd have wanted you to know."

I thought about that for awhile.

Then I got an idea.

"See you, Carly." I said, standing back up.

Carly nodded. "Alright, see you at school."

I went back into my room and plugged my PearPod into my laptop. I clicked 'Freddie's PearPod' and then selected 'Recently Played Songs'.

There, at the top of the list, was one of my favorite songs.

Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade.

I immediately shot Sam a text message.

'_R u a fan of Secondhand Serenade too?'_

She never texted me back.


	10. Understanding the Weird

Barbeque sauce.

I was sitting on my bed thinking about barbeque sauce.

I owed Sam a year's supply of barbeque sauce from BF Wangs, and I had less than a week to submit my funny video.

I needed to come up with an idea that wasn't just funny, it was hilarious. Funny enough to beat every other funny video.

The problem was that I had learned the hard way that I wasn't exactly a funny person. I couldn't even make a baby laugh unless I slammed pie in my face, and that wasn't good enough to win a year-long supply of barbeque sauce.

And the funniest person I knew couldn't help me, because this project was FOR her.

"Stupid Sam…" I grumbled to myself. "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have to worry about barbeque sauce, or about how soon she'll be attacking me for breaking her shin, or her using me as a scapegoat, or working with someone who _never _works…"

I wouldn't have to worry, period.

But then I thought about that. If it wasn't for Sam, I'd have had my heart broken by Carly, I'd laugh less, and my life would be kind of…boring.

And I'd probably have still never kissed anyone.

I put my face in my hands. It was starting to irritate me how often I'd remembered that night on the firescape recently.

"Pull yourself together…" I mumbled to myself. "This is Sam we're talking about, not Carly…"

I ran my hand through my hair. I think I was starting to understand.

I picked up the phone and dialed Sam's number.

"Sup, Freddio?" I heard her say.

"Mm, not much…" I replied uneasily.

"You need me?" Sam asked.

I almost smiled at the irony.

"No, not really…"

"Then…what do you want?"

"Come over here. Now." I told her.

And to my surprise, Sam didn't even ask me what for.

"On my way."

It was a half-hour, however, before Sam knocked on my door.

"What took you so long?" I asked her.

Panting, Sam sat down on my couch. "I had to walk here."

"Well…well WE could have picked you up-" I began, feeling kind of bad for her.

"So why didn't 'cha?" Sam asked, her eyebrows raised.

"…Sorry."

Sam shrugged. " 'S OK, it gave me time to think."

"What about?" I asked her.

Sam just shrugged. "Stuff."

There was a pause in which I looked down at Sam and she looked at her shin, wrapped in a green and purple striped cast.

"You got any Fat Cakes?" Sam asked finally.

I rolled my eyes at her, but I was smiling as I walked to the kitchen and grabbed Sam her Fat Cake.

Tossing it onto her lap, I sat down next to her.

"So, what do you want, Fredward?" Sam asked me.

"I want you to help me make a funny video for…for iCarly." I told her. Man, I was getting better at lying.

Sam leaned back and bit into her Fat Cake. "Welf, dwoo ooh half anmi ibeuhs?"

I wiped the Fat Cake crumbs off my face. "Come again, Princess Puckett?" I said, a note of sarcasm in my voice.

"I asked you if you had any ideas for the video, Dipthong."

"Oh…no."

"So you need me for my brain." Sam said. It wasn't a question, it was a fact.

"Well…we could…spend the rest of today and all tomorrow bothering Lewbert at random intervals and use you video cameras to take video…" Sam suggested after a minute of silence.

I turned towards her and smiled. Once again, Sam's creativity really impressed me.

"Sounds like fun."

"Yes, yes it does." Sam said, nodding and returning the smile.

"And it's just gonna be you and me doing it." Sam added.

I don't know exactly why Sam didn't want Carly in on this, but I wasn't exactly complaining.

"Just me and you." I repeated.

There was a long pause.

"I love you-r ideas." I told her, barely catching myself in time to make it sound different than what I had _almost_ said to her.

Sam laughed a little. Her eyes locked with mine for a moment.

"My brain says thanks." She said happily.

Yep, I was defiantly starting to understand what this weirdness was.

**Yep, Freddie just barely stopped himself from saying 'I love you.' Poor Freddie, will he EVER learn?**

**The line 'I love you-r ideas' was stolen *shame* from Ratatouille, one of my favorite movies. You remember, when Linguini does the same thing with Colette? That's how that line is meant to be read xDD**


	11. Smooth and Suave

Ch. 11

Three days later, Sam and I's video had been submitted to the contest.

I had come really close to just telling Sam that the barbeque sauce might not even come, but if I had, I was sure Sam would have gotten socky.

So I didn't.

I knocked on the door to Carly's apartment.

"Come in!" I heard Spencer shout. That reassured me a little. I was here to talk to Spencer.

Stepping in to the apartment, I looked around.

"Carly not here?" I asked.

"She's upstairs." Spencer told me.

"Spencer? Can you help me with something?"

Spencer thought about it. "Does it involve Mexican trivia?"

"…No…" I answered, looking at him oddly.

"Then I'd be happy to." He said with a small smile. "Whatcha need, Freddo?"

"Well…you see, there's this girl that I like-"

"Sam?"

"Wait, how did you know it was-?"

Spencer sat down on the couch, and I took the chair.

"Come on, Freddie, I've known you two for a while. You chill here all the time. I can tell you like it when she yells t you or grabs you-"

"OK, I GET it." I cut him off, feeling my face grow hot again. "I wanted to ask you how to tell her that I like her WITHOUT her attacking me."

Spencer considered. "Well, you gotta be all mysterious and seem sort of…out of her reach. It makes girls go _insane_. If you talk all smooth and suave-like you should be able to just say-" his voice took on that smooth and suave tone he had suggested, " 'Hey, Sam, I love you.' And when you say it, hold both of her hands with both of yours. Stare into her eyes like I suggested before with Valerie. And if she doesn't get mad or try to kill you, just take one hand, put it on her shoulder, pull her towards you, lean down and kiss her."

I nodded, feeling sort of nervous. "Hey, would it be OK if I…practiced the talking and hand-holding part before I try it out on Sam?"

Spencer nodded and stood up. "Sure, why not?"

I stood and looked up at Spencer.

"Sam," I began, starting to feel a little more reassured, "there's something I need to say to you."

Doing my best to stare into Spencer's eyes, I took both of his hands in mine and said, trying to sound smooth and suave, "I love you, Sam."

At that moment, the door opened and Sam stepped in, her crutches making that familiar noise on the floor. She looked at me and Spencer holding hands and looked thoroughly shocked…and disgusted.

"Sam…" I jumped away from Spencer, realizing what she must be thinking she'd walked in on.

"Sam, it's…it's not what it looks like…"

She hopped away from us and headed up the stairs to the studio as fast as she could.

"CARLYYYY!"

There was an awkward silence after she left in a panic, and Spencer and I looked t eachother.

Then Spencer burst out laughing, falling back down onto the couch.

"Boy," he said, still laughing, "You got some 'splaining to do…"

I just rolled my eyes and headed upstairs.

As I stood outside the door, I could see Sam in the iCarly studio, shooting a foot with a rubber bow. Carly was there too, but she looked slightly disinterested.

I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what I had to do.

Stepping inside, I waved slightly at my two friends.

"Buenos noches!" I said happily.

Carly stood up and looked down at Sam.

"I'm going downstairs."

"No, stay with me!" Sam complained. "I don't want to be alone here with the dork!"

I rolled my eyes.

"You promised, Sam." Carly said, glaring at her.

She cast me a pitying look before leaving me and Sam by ourselves.

Sam gestured for me to sit on the beanbag beside her.

I wasn't ready to say this to her.

But I knew this was one of my only opportunities to say it without Carly around.

So I had to.

**Oh, Freddie…**

**Extreme cliffy here. Can Freddie do this? And what did Sam promise?**

**You'll find out, trust me…**

**But for now, I leave you with this cliffhanger.**


	12. Just Peachy

Ch. 12

Standing over Sam, I gave her a small smile. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Look, Sam, I…I wasn't…with Spencer…"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know you better than that. What were you doing, practicing putting the moves on Sabrina?"

I glared at her. "No, Sam, I told you, Sabrina and I broke up three weeks ago." My eyes fell to her cast.

"Sam, I'm…I'm sorr-"

Suddenly, Sam poked me in the forehead with the bottom of one of her crutches.

"Ow! What was that for?" I complained.

"Stop apologizing, Dipthong, it's getting on my nerves." Sam told me, tossing her crutch back onto the floor with a noisy clang.

I could still feel something sticky on my forehead. Reaching up, I peeled off a flat pink blob.

"Ew…" I murmured, disgusted. "You had ABC gum stuck to the bottom of your crutch."

Sam smiled a little. "Wow, two attacks for the price of one! Lucky you."

I smiled too. "You're crazy, Sam, do you know that?"

"I do."

I shook my head a little, still smiling, and sat beside her. "So how's it going?"

Sam shrugged. "Meh, Carly's making me do something I don't want to do, and then she left me alone with _you. _So not too peachy at the moment, how 'bout you, Fredbag?"

I tried to seem disinterested like Spencer mentioned. "I'm okay."

Sam sighed.

"So, what's Carly making you do?" I asked after a moment of quiet.

Sam looked away from me, up at the ceiling. "You don't need to know." She muttered nonchalantly.

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad…"

Sam looked at me. She looked kind of amused.

"No, it's pretty bad…"

I sat up a little more. "Well, what is it?"

Sam considered.

Trying to put off telling Sam as much as possible, I pressed harder. "How bad could it be?"

Sam sighed again. "Well…it's bad, but it's good at the same time. It's…one of the best things in…in my life, but also the worst thing."

I remembered Spencer's instructions and put one hand over Sam's.

She cast me a 'let-go-or-I'll kill-you' look, but I didn't move.

Sam gave a defeated little huff.

I told her gently, "Hey, I have that kind of problem, too."  
Sam raised her eyebrows. "Do you?"'

I nodded. "It's like you said. It's a great thing, but it doesn't come easy."

Sam smiled slightly. "Well, I think maybe, the _best_ things…the _truest_ things…aren't supposed to come easy." She edged a tiny bit closer to me. I wasn't sure why, but the way she said it reminded me of the weird way we'd ended up kissing before.

"And that sometimes the things that make the most sense happen when nothing else does…" Sam continued, seeming almost intent on saying what she needed to say at this point. I liked her phrasing there. This time her words reminded me of how I'd held her when I broke her shin last week.

Sam sat up a little bit, now seeming as nervous as I was.

"And I know that things between us have been kinda…complicated…And hard on you, which was mostly…for me…Look. I just needed to tell you that I…"

I was putting it together now. I knew what Sam needed to say now.

And now I was ready to tell her.

I met her eyes perfectly, and I saw Sam lose her nerve even more.

"I mean, I…well-"

"I love you, Sam."

For a full thirty seconds, we both stared at eachother in our shock. I felt numbness overpowering me and my brain. I don't know why I said it, but I was glad I had.

Sam's voice was in awe, just above a whisper.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Fredward."

The first time Sam and I kissed, it was awkward, strange, something neither of us felt the emotion to do all that well.

It wasn't like that this time.

The first time Melanie and I kissed, it was almost right. Almost perfect. But it still felt weird. It was like Spencer had said before we went out that night. I'd know she wasn't the one if the kissing felt weird, and it had.

It wasn't like that this time.

The first time Carly and I kissed, it had that feeling of wanting, but it didn't feel right. It didn't feel like it…belonged. It just felt like two poorly matched people who thought they loved eachother kissing.

It wasn't like that this time, either.

This time, it was perfect.


	13. Unity

It had been fifteen minutes, and still neither of us was saying a word.

I just kept wanting to say something, but losing heart. Sam didn't seem to want to talk. She was just lost in a world of shock. But she was smiling. That was a good thing.

Sam and I spoke at the same instant.

"What do we tell Carly?"

"The truth." I said.

Sam shook her head. "Are you kidding? She'll either throw something or pass out and THEN throw something."

I raised my eyebrows. "So she…she DIDN'T want this for you?"

Sam shook her head. "I don't think she's gotten over you yet. So no."

I felt embarrassed for even mentioning Carly in front of Sam.

"You know I'm over her though…right?"

Sam looked…grateful. I had never seen her look grateful before.

Especially not grateful towards me.

She started to smile.

"What?"

"You."

I blinked. "Yeah, what about me?" I asked, waiting to be insulted.

"You, of all people."

I think I understood her. "Me of all people for Carly to like?" I asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"No. You of all people for _me_ to like."

I smiled back and pulled her into a side-hug. She didn't fight against it, but she hesitated before she let me pull her to my side. Sam looked up at me.

"But we do have to tell Carly, don't we?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"But no one else."

"I guess…"

"What?"

"Look, if you're embarrassed of me, than-"

Sam gave me a light punch in the side. "No. I just don't know how I can tell people that I'm dating the guy I always treated like the bane of my existence."

"…We're dating?" I asked her.

"Yes." She said forcefully, and I knew that was final.

I smiled down at her. I admired how she hadn't even considered asking if I wanted to date her; she had just told me that we were, and that was that. It brought back a lot of good, painful memories.

"Perfect."

I stood up, took Sam's hand, and pulled her up.

"What are you doing, Freddie?"

I was surprised at the use of my actual name.

"Taking you to talk to Carly with me." I told her, handing Sam her crutches.

"I don't want to go with you. You do it without me."

"Can't. Come on."

"Fine." Sam mumbled bitterly. "But after this, I'm the boss, you got it?"  
"Of course, Princess Puckett."

When we reached the living room where Carly and Spencer were sitting, I felt something small and warm brush over my hand.

I looked and saw Sam, her arm slightly outstretched. "We've got to show her." She whispered so that Carly couldn't hear. She looked at me almost imploringly, looking genuinely nervous. "Please."

I nodded and gently took Sam's hand.

We walked in together, and Spencer was the first to see us.

He smiled hugely. "I KNEW it was only a matter of time!" he said happily.

Carly turned away from the TV. "Huh?"

Her eyes fell on me and Sam. She blinked rapidly, stunned.

"You guys…?"

"Carly, I…we.." I tried to begin. Sam cut across me determinedly.

"Me and Freddie are…" her voice faltered before she spoke the last word.

"What?" Carly demanded. "What?"

She turned to Spencer, who was smiling smugly.

"Spencer, what are they talking about?"

"We're trying to say that we…" I spluttered.

"We're dating." Sam and I finished simultaneously.

Carly backed away slowly, her mouth moving but no words coming out.

"DATING?" She finally squeaked.

Sam and I nodded. Carly's face grew pale. She put her hand on the table to steady herself, but it didn't help. She fainted, landing on the floor with a thud.

My eyes grew. "Carly!"

Beside me, still gripping my hand, Sam burst into giggles.

"Sam…"

She bit her lip and became quiet.

Spencer propped Carly up on the couch. "She'll come round here in about a minute."

Sam nodded. "Good."

"Wow. I can't believe this is finally HAPPENING…" Spencer said, mostly to himself.

"Spencer…" Sam and I sighed at the same time.

"We have GOT to stop DOING that!" Sam said, but she was smiling.

Spencer ruffled the hair on both of our heads. "I knew this would happen, and now it finally is-"

Carly was waking up slowly. Rubbing the back of her head, she mumbled, "What the heck happened?"

"You passed out cause I told you me and Freddie are dating." Sam said, starting to giggle again.

"I can't believe it." Carly said flatly. "Seriously."

I smiled. "Hey, join the club."

Carly looked at our intertwined hands. "So Sam kept her promise?"

Sam's grip on my hand tightened. "Yeah."

I looked at her. "What did you promise Carly? You never told me."

Sam looked down at our hands. I followed her gaze.

"I think you already know."


	14. Of Ham and Saps

I had my first date with Sam all planned out. Hopefully, this would go better than my plans for the photo project had.

My plan was simple. I called it 'Concierto en mi Casa'. Sam and I would sit in my room and play a CD on my stereo. It seemed kind of simple and boring, but it wasn't. I was only playing songs that reminded me of Sam.

My mom was off at the Aggressive Parenting Conference 2010 for the weekend, so that made it even better. I might even take a walk on the wild side and use forks when Sam and I ate dinner. I know she likes it when I get all feisty like that.

I had on Sam's favorite of my Penny-Tees, 'Special Ham', and was just finishing burning the playlist when I heard the main door open without a knock. Sam must be here.

Rushing from my room to the living room, I opened the door for Sam.

"Hi Sam!" I said enthusiastically.

"Hola, mi tecnología nerd-o." Sam replied. I smiled, even if she had just called me a tech nerd. She was really picking up on the Spanish.

"You know, 'Nerd-o' isn't Spanish." I told her, still smiling.

She raised her eyebrows. I continued with my Spanish lesson.

"See, the word you're looking for is idiota. It can mean a lot of things, like-"

"Dude!" Sam cut across warningly. She started to smile too. Her crutches clunked as she took a step forward and allowed me to hug her.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Sam asked. "We could see a movie, I hear _Dreadful Me_ is good…"

"No, we're going to see a concert."

That got Sam exited. "Wow, seriously? Where?"

"I jerked my head in the direction of my room. "Back there."

Sam raised her eyebrows again. "Who'd you hire to sing for us, The AV Bunnies?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. I burned a CD of a whole bunch of really awesome songs for us to listen to."

"Wow, Freddie, you're certainly taking advantage of your mom not being here, yes?" she said sarcastically, but she seemed happy.

"Sam…"

"Kidding, Freddie-o, let's go."

Sam sat on my bed, her legs dangling over the side. I was leaning on the bed, Sam's lower legs hanging over my shoulders. Well, her left one did, her cast-wearing right one stuck straight out, but both legs made contact with me.

I flicked the stereo on. Before I pressed Play, I handed Sam a letter I'd wrote.

"Read the first one out loud."

Sam nodded. "Number one:

_The first song on this list is Life Without You by Stanfour. This is one awesome song. It's on here because after I broke your shin-which I apologize for-you started avoiding me for the next week, and I was pretty bored without you. Kind of like this."_

Sam looked up from the paper.

"You're such a sap, Freddie."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

She smiled. "Just play the song."

As the song played, I felt Sam's foot tap up and down slowly to the beat of the song. After it ended, I let a moment pass before I told Sam to read the next one.

"Number two:

_The second song is Why by Secondhand Serenade. This is a good song, too. All I can say is, I don't mind that you do this to me. I just don't know why."_

After the song had finished, Sam said quietly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be…I like it when you mess with me." I told her, and I meant it.

"Do you?" Sam said, sounding amused.

"Not always, but…"

"I get what you mean." She said. I could tell she was smiling big.

"Read the next one."

"Alright, number three:

_The third song is Inevitable by Anberlin._

Finally, a faster song!" Sam said happily.

"Just keep reading, Sam."

"Fine…

_This is one of my all-time favorites. Brings back great memories of you and me."_

Sam seemed surprised. "That's all you wrote about that one? Deep thoughts, Fredbag."

I glared a little. "Sam, I worked really hard on this, so just-"

"Hey, hey, calm down." Sam said. "It brings back memories for me, too."

I let the song play.

As the CD rolled on, I listened to Sam read out my reasonings for each song…

"_The fourth is Stolen by Dashboard Confessional. Because simply put, you have._

_The fifth song is Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade. I liked how you picked this song at the hospital. It let me know a thing or two._

_The sixth song is Wonderwall by Oasis. You've saved me from a lot of bad things, Sam, and you'll never know how much that means to me._

_The seventh song is I'd Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin. Just listen. It's true. _

_And the last is Having to Let Go by Rookie of the Year. Not sure how to explain this one. You helped me let go of a lot of things, and by doing so I was able to find a lot of new, better ones."_

Once the 'concert' had finished, Sam came down and sat beside me.

"Thank you." She said simply.

I smiled, placing my arm around her shoulder. "No problem, Sam."

"You know something?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm really glad you didn't have that Running Away song on there."

"I almost put it on there." I confessed. "Why wouldn't you want it there?"

"Cause it'd be so sappy and cliché that I'd probably throw something at you, like a hobo…or something."

I smiled. "Glad you see it my way-"

"For once." We finished at the same time.

She smiled. "You know, you didn't have to write that list. I could have figured out the message in each song on my own."

"Oh yeah?"

"And I think that your short thing about the seventh song was short because you thought it'd be sappy and cliché to write about how the song reminded you about how you'd rather be with me than Carly, and that I'd throw a hobo at you or something."  
I shook my head, smiling. She was dead right.

"Wow." I said.

"You're pretty amazing."


	15. I Know

**A/N: **Well, guys, this is it. The final chapter of The Best Laid Plans! Enjoy! Important notice: This chapter is a timeskip. It takes place at the end of the photo project.

"And…who would like to present next? Carly, Gibby, how about you?" my English teacher had the projector on and the screen rolled down. Brian and Wendy had just finished presenting their project on the color blue.

Gibby and Carly came forward, Carly with the paragraphs in her hand. Their presentation was about random household objects, each object representing something about the environment. For instance, the freezer was representing the polar ice caps, the paper shredder was deforestation. It was obvious by the looks of the project that Carly had come up with everything and Gibby had just been there to snap pictures for her.

Which, had it been me working with Carly, I was sure would have happened.

"Insightful!" Our English teacher said loudly. "How about a hand for the team of Carly and Gibby? Who's next…?"

He scanned the classroom. Sam nudged me with her foot. I nodded to her and raised my hand.

"Ah, Freddie, Sam! Step on up."

Sam and I strode up to the front of the classroom. I held the paragraphs in my hand, ready to read.

"Our photo project theme is Destruction." Sam told the class. She tapped her cast-wrapped leg against her crutch and gave me a sarcastic looking death glare.

I flipped through all of our photos, reciting the paragraphs that I had written. Try as I might, I hadn't been able to convince Sam to help me on those.

"This first picture is of a glass full of green paint being smashed by Momma and her sledgehammer." Sam announced proudly.

"This next one is of me crushing a triple decker ice cream cone…"

The presentation went along smoothly, Sam and me beaming as we stared up at our handiwork.

"…and that wraps up our project!" Sam concluded.

"Wait, no it doesn't." I said. I was nervous about this, but I know it was something I had to do.

I flicked the presentation back on.

"You guys know about Sam's leg, right?"

There was nodding from the class.

"Well, Sam here caught the ENTIRE thing on tape…" I played them the video of my hammer swinging down, flying towards her, and knocking her flat on her back. The camera had flown out of her hands and landed on the floor next to her. I sighed, feeling a massive wave of guilt.

"Yep. It was my fault that Sam got in that cast. And, if it weren't for me, she'd be doing what she does best-"

The class all cut me off with suggestions.

"Eating?"

"Sleeping?"

"Abusing me?"

"Torturing you?"

"All of the above, actually." Sam said, smiling a little.

The class turned to me. They seemed almost shocked, dumbfounded at the idea that a tech nerd could have done that much damage to the most feared girl in school.

"Yes." I said to Sam. "And I know you're tired of me saying I'm sorry-"

"Pssh, seriously, Freddie, if you get all sappy and dramatic one more time, I WILL kick you. Right where the sun don't shine."

"Sam…"

Sam smiled. "Go on, Fredison."

"If it makes you feel any better…I had the most fun doing this with you than anything else."

That seemed to touch the class. It was like Carly had said. I did care about Sam. She had also told me that sooner or later I'd have to man up and just confess that she was not my enemy.

My English teacher came forward, applauding.

"Well…congratulations, you two. Your presentation was absolutely outstanding."

I was beaming as I ran at Sam. She rushed towards me, smiling. Meeting eachother halfway, I got crushed in a tight victory hug. I was sure people were staring at us, whispering to eachother about the boy and girl who had once hated eachother.

I wouldn't have noticed.

"It's coming Sam, don't worry."

We were sitting together on the Puckett's couch. I had my hands over Sam's eyes, my own eyes on my watch. It was 4:28. The post man had promised he'd arrive at 4:30.

"Just give me a hint." Sam pressed.

"It's something you earned."

"So I'm the new Queen of the Universe?"

"…No."

Sam sighed. "At least take your hands off my eyes."

"No!"

Sam pulled at my wrists. "Come on, Benson, it can't be THAT exciting!"

"Oh, it is…"

The doorbell rang. "Close your eyes." I said, standing up and grabbing Sam's hand.

"Fine."

Sam allowed me to lead her to the door.

A delivery man stood there, a clipboard in his hand. "I got a delivery for a…Sam Puckett." The man said, looking at Sam and I.

"What is it?" Sam demanded.

The man raised his eyebrows. "Your contest prize, young lady."

"Contest?"

I sighed. "Sam, open your eyes."

Sam opened her eyes, blinking. "What contest, Fredward?"

"Tell you later, OK?"

I lead Sam over to the delivery truck.

"So my sauce is in there?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Yep." The delivery man said happily. Swinging open the truck's back door, he revealed over a hundred boxes, all filled with bottles of barbeque sauce from BF Wangs.

It took almost a half hour to get every single box inside the Puckett home, and once we had, Sam dragged me over to the couch.

"Can't wait to drown all the pork in the fridge in special barbeque sauce…" She smiled.

"Now tell me, what contest was he talking about?"

I ran my hand through my hair.

"OK…When I promised you that barbeque sauce…it was a prize for a video contest. And the video that we submitted…won you the sauce."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "So you went through all that trouble just to make me happy?"  
"Pretty much."

Sam laughed. Grabbing my shoulders, she pulled me into a hug.

"I love you."

I smiled too, returning the hug.

"I know."

**A/N: **That wraps up my story!

I recived a review asking exactly what's up with Sam and Freddie now, so I'll tell you:

Sam and Freddie are still dating. Freddie eventually compromised with Sam and decided to only tell Carly.

I want to thank all of you who faved, reviewed, and read The Best Laid Plans! A personal thank you to my friends at Sam & Freddie for motivating me to keep on writing, in particular JunoLuv, who helped me out with this a LOT, and her as well as Sp1derp1g and SamLurvsHam for reviewing every single chapter and convincing me to keep on writing. Again, thank you so much!


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